DRY 8!!!!!!

[CheesyNachos]

Hello! This is our 8th! thread for those who are abstaining from alcohol and for those who want to abstain. :) We love newbies and lurkers. We have people who have been DRY for years, for months, for weeks, days, and hours. :) ALL are welcome. We have heaps of tips and we offer support at any stage.

DRY 7 the previous thread is here...

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/relationships/2347295-DRY-7?

Welcome new faces from me! :) Well done on day 1's and stay strong through day 2. Can't add any wise words beyond what has already been proffered already so I'll just wave

Aramynta Just read your thread and good god you deserve a medal and a huge bunch of flowers I hope you have some kind of treat lined up for when they finally leave for getting through such a thoroughly emotionally draining week? Alcoholic families are just so difficult (another child of an alcoholic here).

Hunter your doctor told you about this thread?! For some reason that has really tickled me, I wonder if she walks amongst us Hello doctor Fair enough that you're not feeling the AA thing, never say never though. It wasn't for me (after 18 months of trying) but I would never dismiss it for anyone else - whatever works is what matters and that will be different for each of us.

What's working for me at the moment is the fact that I'm completely and utterly broke. Have just about enough money to feed us until payday (or the child benefit is paid in, whichever is soonest) but not a single penny for anything else so no chance of buying booze even if I wanted to. I also have a few things to look forward to which will involve me having my head together and a fair bit of travelling and driving. Also that resolve not to revisit the decision! It works really well for me for now because I do have those creeping thoughts of the just once, no one would know, urgh I'm stressed need a drink, variety. It works because it gives me some where for my head to go when I notice the thoughts, like a big red stop sign DONT REVISIT THE DECISION YOU DECIDED TO NOT DO THAT ANY MORE. Simples!

Hello newbies good luck. Sonlyme I wonder if it might be wise to see your GP before stopping if you were drinking half a bottle of vodka daily? I would hate anyone to hurt themselves by not stopping safely. I don't mean to be discouraging and you've done brilliantly but be safe . Similar usernames might be a bit confusing, if you want to change it's under my mumsnet (top right of the page in purple) then my account. I suppose if you're really attached to your name I could change, I don't really mind either way, let me know

I extend my usual apologies for the overuse of smilies but it's when I stop using them that I start to worry. Smilies = upbeat mood for me.

Hi, just checking in. :) Well done everyone. :)

See you all tomorrow.

Hey tsonlyme yh my doctor said another patient of hers used it and said it was really helpful! She was right feel more determined and am chuffed I've made it thru today waiting for the nighttime dog walk to tire me out for sleep! Hope everyone is ok sonlyme r u ok? You been real quiet today hope it's cos ur busy!

Thanks tsonlyme Think I'll be ok. Have tried to stop many times before and been fine. sigh. No attachment to name so duly changed!
Had a real tough day Huntswoman really anxious and breathless but I did it and feel good now. Well done to you! Had a bubble bath with candles. In bed with a camomile tea watching tv. Feel relaxed. If I can get to about 8pm I am fine.
Day 3 here we come! I can't lie, I am plagued with thoughts of 'I can't do this/ am not even sure I want to do this' Taking one day at a time is harder than it sounds.
will hold onto my feelings of 'shitness' pinkpoppony lol!

Well done on the first day ladies!! Hope today was a positive one for you all too.

No, no, no to not missing drinking at weddings Teapot. I had to be literally carried early out of two of them in quick succession a few years back. I still burn thinking about that.

Not so much the 'I wasn't that bad' thoughts, more the 'surely a (ha) drink a few times a year won't hurt?'. Realistically I know that would be a slippery slope but my mind has been playing with it. Had a drinking dream last night for the first time in yonks where I woke up in my dream with the crushing realisation I couldn't remember the night before, finding wine bottles about the house, wondering if I'd made an idiot out of myself to anyone etc. Thank you kind subconscious for reminding me why alcohol+me is a bad thing! :)

SO chuffed to hear that you are doing ok and the "not revisiting the decision" is working for you tsonly
I ought to trademark that as well
I wouldn't be surprised if there are a few doctors on here, I come across many who drink heavily and my own GP admitted she drank half a bottle at night and had to stop herself drinking more sometimes.

Day 2 is fantastic hunts and yellow onwards to day 3.

I absolutely don't miss drinking in public at all. I can't tell you how often I got shitfaced in entirely inappropriate situations like weddings, drinks with the boss etc. I have no desire to revisit that thankyouverymuch. Drinking quietly alone, however, is a whole other story

I have a family funeral next week and already the talk has started about who is going to keep an eye on XXX (a cousin) who blatantly has an unaddressed alcohol problem and who had to be carried out of a wedding last year in front of her teenaged son, my face burned for her when I heard about it, poor woman. A couple of relatives have asked if I can intervene, knowing my history. I've told them there's nothing I can do until she asks for help and if that happens to send her in my direction. Anyway, can't remember where I was going with that little stream of consciousness

Nice new name yellowfloss , glad you're doing ok. The anxiety and physical stuff will pass in a few days, each day getting better and after about a week you should start sleeping like a baby, and I don't mean waking every two hours screaming lol.

Just noticed your post yellowfloss. I was very anxious when stopping, it can feel overwhelming in terms of adjusting physically and mentally to no more alcohol. Honestly the first few days are the hardest looking at this brave new world to face :) Don't doubt your decision. Head down and keep plugging on through the hours and you will find it becomes far easier as you lose the associations and all the benefits start to show themselves.

Glad you're feeling relaxed now and after a sleep it will be day three!! How fantastic is that! On that note of sleep..

thank you tsonlyme and lastGleaming
night night

Morning all! Lovely positive posts here. :) I agree with Last head down, plug on and it gets better. There is a wonderful sober blogger called Belle and she says 'When you have some sober momentum, don't fuck with it'. Which basically means keep going, don't think 'just one'.

My DHusband has a birthday coming up in a couple of months, and it occurred to me vaguely yesterday that the best birthday present I can give him is a sober wife. Our relationship is so much better and calmer now. :) It is ALL good.

well. day 3 and being AF feels shite at mo. Feel tearful, anxious, worried I can't do it, itchy and crashingly tired. Want to keep trying though.

yellow you can do it. Do the 15 minute rule...... put off any decision to drink for 15 minutes.... cravings come and go. And don't worry about AF for good.... just get through today. I cannot recall what the term is, but itchy skin is a common symptom when you first stop. I certainly had it. Just get through today, any way you can. If that means watching bad tv and eating chocolate and going to bed early then do it. You will feel alot better soon ,promise.

thank you Cheesy the panic is coming and going. Feel ok at the mo. Supping on camomile tea

Hi, can I join in please? I most definitely have a problem with alcohol and am ready2stop. This, miraculously, is my 11th dry day. I have drunk too much for the last 20 odd years, have been sneaking drinks and lying to myself for the last 5 and in the last year things have just spiralled. Wine is my poison but I've gradually graduated to spirits and that's really fucked me up. I've started drinking earlier and earlier and have been reckless and not even a tiny bit in control. When I stopped 11 days ago it wasn't unusual for me to be drinking a bottle of vodka somedays.

I am still finding stopping a bit all consuming but am out of those horrifically anxious, shaky, depressed first days. Already I really do feel SO MUCH BETTER but the voice is still there telling me that a little bit won't hurt. I know it will because it never is just a little bit and it never really was.

I have to stop for myself, my little DD who completely depends on me and my DH who is wonderfully supportive and knows I have a problem, but doesn't know just how bad it has got.

Welcome ready. Good to have you with us. :)

Don't be worried you can't do it yellow, you are doing it, right now. This moment is all that matters. Don't forget alcohol will have been messing with your hormones, sugar levels, serotonin levels to name a few and it will take a while for your body to go back to a proper normal rather than the 'normal' it was functioning under with booze.

Welcome and well done on 11 days ready! No, it's never a little bit here either.

Hope everyone else is having a good day?

hi ready 11 days is amazing. well done. thanks you lastgleaming that's good advice.
went onto soberistas today and someone recommended an 'adult colouring book!'
went to wh smith and got a mindfullness one and felt tips and it helped hugely at my tough time (3pm - 7pm)
sitting with hot chocolate now. have terrible finger cramps, is this just coincidence do you think? Got them before colouring lol!!
Hope everyone is having a good and calm day

how are you doing huntswoman? hope you're ok x

I do those adult colouring books too! I find them brilliant for silencing the monkey chatter in my brain.

I love those adult colouring books and knitting, sewing and baking.

I find watching cookery programmes like Nigel Slater very relaxing as well
Nige doesn't seem to constantly be pouring wine like some of the others.

Well done on day 3 yellow

Just read this blog post that made me laugh... and resonated with me alot.

runningonsober.com/2015/08/17/good-advice-to-the-newly-sober-you-do-not-have-to-be-good/

yellow well done on 3 days and colouring books are now on my list of things to try. I've started knitting again....slowly.... But it keeps my hands busy and I'm now less likely to drop any stitches at least.

Great blog link cheesy I am mainlining sugar at the moment and that's just what I needed to hear. Sweets, biscuits, cake, chocolate - have ate them all today. Seem strangely partial to licorice all sorts right now - they must have particularly high density sugar, even eating my least favourite round coconut ones!

Really liked that Cheesy. Clicked onto the post Day 730 that was linked offdry.wordpress.com/2015/07/04/day-730-two-years-today/ and sat nodding along with a smile on my face to nearly every point. Not two years on for me but can slowly see most of them taking shape.